Product Datasheet - Concept Engineering - SpiceVision
SpiceVision®
Spice circuits and models are the common currency of the EDA world. They are generated by many EDA tools and provide a description of the circuit at the lowest level of components: the transistors, capacitors, resistors and even the interconnect, that combine to produce, for example, an IC. But for all but the most trivial designs, Spice files are difficult to read. SpiceVision generates circuit schematics on screen and speeds up debugging and project development. The SpiceVision product family helps to solve design problems in: Digital Circuits, Mixed-Signal ASICs, Analogue Circuits, Printed Circuit Boards and MEMS.
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Compatibility
SpiceVision flawlessly integrates with existing design and characterisation flows, independent of manufacturer. It interprets all important Spice dialects, including SPICE2, SPICE3, HSPICE, PSPICE and CDL. Most EDA tools normally provide an option to export data in one of the supported standard forms. Predefined symbols for the different components, like resistors, capacitors, transistors, current and voltage sources, are supplied as standard. SpiceVision can also link to external symbol libraries. Automatically generated schematics can be used to document designs as circuit diagrams or circuit books at specific stages in the development cycle. They can be used for snapshots at critical times, such as before and after place & route, to freeze the design status. The designer can return to a working circuit diagram and use this as a new starting point.
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Multi-level
SpiceVision's hierarchy browser can display different levels of hierarchy, from complete top level overview to all sub-circuit levels. Multiple windows allow the display of Hierarchy Tree, Spice Source Code and Schematic Diagrams. The GUI provides customisation of different features, including the choice of page splitting algorithms for schematics, level of detail displayed in the schematic window.
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A powerful search engine finds areas of interest, produces and stores a results list and displays it in the schematic or cone window. The user can select areas from the results list to see as a schematic, independent of the hierarchy levels involved. Object attributes, such as input or output port definitions or types of power supplies, can be modified via pop-up menus. These definitions are then used by SpiceVision to generate circuit diagrams that are even easier to read and understand.
Cone Display / Circuit Fragment Simulation / Simplification
| The Cone Window, only available in SpiceVision PRO is an "intelligent magnifying glass" and displays selected fragments in a new view. It can also display critical paths calculated by other tools. These can be stored as a separate file, which can be transferred to a simulator. Such a partial simulation often runs 10 to 100 times faster than a full simulation. Place and route tools deliver new Spice files, extracted after the physical implementation, with the results of effects like wire length on the chip and coupling between neighbouring wires. These are even larger files and even more difficult to understand. Place and route tools will generate new critical paths, for paths that influence and limit maximum clock frequency or may effect device yield in production. Cone display can be used to generate schematics of just these areas. |
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At this stage of the design, a selection and display of circuit fragments connected via multiple hierarchies is even more important. The same applies to "selective simulation" as increased files normally require even longer simulation cycles. The schematic can show all of the components in the part list, but can simplify by replacing components in parallel, such as capacitors, with a single component representing the sum, or by a selection feature that makes all capacitors, for example, invisible. SpiceVision PRO also automatically creates a non-parasitic view where only the functional structures of the circuit are shown. Special areas or component groups e. g. nets or instantiations, can be selected and saved as bookmarks for later use. |
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Intellectual Property
SpiceVision PRO designers are able to select certain parts of the design and save these as new files, cookie-cutting the new IP out of the complete design. A full definition of the IP as a Spice text file, together with the circuit diagram, is available immediately for filing, transfer and printout.
API
An application program interface (API) allows access to the internal database and GUI, using the TCL scripting language to analyse the data and generate user specific reports and checks as additional tool functions. This can, for example, be used to find "floating gates" or "load conflicts" and correct a design before simulation, group, or write and run Electrical Rule Checks (only available in SpiceVision PRO).
Faster
With SpiceVision's schematics from Spice lists, the designer has an extra level of understanding of the physical circuits that underlay the abstractions of higher level tools. It is easier to debug problem areas and devices can move into production earlier and with a higher degree of confidence.
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At a Glance
| Key Feature | SpiceVision | SpiceVision PRO |
SpiceVision OEM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reads Spice files (supported dialects: spice2, spice3, pspice, hspice and CDL) | Yes | Yes | No (1) |
| Generates easy-to-read schematics from circuit netlists | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Incremental schematic navigation for big designs (Cone Window) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Save/restore/exchange schematic fragments (Bookmarking of "Cone Window"). | No | Yes | Yes |
| Binfile support to "compile" big designs (on UNIX). | No | Yes | Yes |
| 64-bit support (on Solaris). | No | Yes | Yes |
| Powerful GUI provides multiple views, including Tree, Schematic, Cone, Source file. | Yes (2) | Yes | Yes |
| Non-Parasitic view in Schematic and Cone windows (displays CMOS function only). | Yes (2) | Yes | Yes |
| Drag & Drop between different views. Highlighting. Display attributes. | Yes (2) | Yes | Yes |
| Full DataBase TCL API allows to add user defined functions. | No | Yes | Yes |
| GUI TCL API to access and extend the GUI. | No | Yes | Yes |
(1) SpiceVision OEM provides a DataBase API to load circuit netlists.
(2) SpiceVision has no "Cone Window" (for incremental schematic navigation).
SpiceVision Product Family
| SpiceVision | Entry level version, supporting up to 2000 Spice components, no support for interactive Cone Display, no support for TCL Userware |
| SpiceVision PRO | Professional level edition with unlimited number of Spice components, interactive Cone Display, UserWare interface for programming in TCL, parameter editing and export of Spice circuits and circuits fragments |
| SpiceVision OEM | Special version only for OEM integrators, database can only be loaded via API |
Supported Platforms
Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XPSun Solaris (32 bit and 64 bit)
HP-UX
Linux
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SpiceVision Datasheet 
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